LOTHLORIEN PARAS LOADING:- See details on cassette shell. COMPUTER:- Spectrum 48K A. Setting and Objective Military strategists at High Command have drawn up a plan which will bring an end to the war within weeks. The entire plan relies on breaking the enemy's main lines of communi- cation. On the 14th of March at 0600hrs, twenty seven teams of highly trained specailists will be dropped behind enemy lines. YOU are in command of one of these forces - your objective - DESTROY THE BRIDGE. "Paras" is a simulation of small unit actions, in which a force of 15 men are under your direct control. You must decide what action each of these men will take each turn - there is a choice of up to 10 different actions. At the start of the game your force has already been dropped by parachute. The game comprises of two separate scenarios. In the first you must eliminate all enemy forces in order to secure a safe route for your retreat. The objective for the second part is simply to destroy the bridge. (Note-all enemy need not be eliminated in this part, just the bridge) B. INTRODUCTION 1. The Enemy In the first scenario, all enemy will be hidden in cover (trees, buildings etc). and will only be spotted when they tire or when opportunity fire is used (see later). In the second scenario, all are hidden except for the three prone men near to the bridge. Enemy status is donated by its colour. Red on green is 'normal', yellow on green is 'wounded', inverse indicates he is in cover. All enemy are armed with submachine guns. They do not have hand grenades. 2. Your Men You have 15 men who must first be given firearms- machine guns, submachine guns bazookas, or rifles. All men are considered to have an unlimited supply of hand grenades. Their status is also denoted by colour. Blue on green is 'normal', white on green is 'wounded', inverse indicates he is in cover. 3. Cover Trees, buildings, ridges and artillery crates are all classed as cover. A man in cover has a better defensive position than one not in cover. 4. Artillery Attacks During the course of the game your troops will be sunjected to artillery fire. Any of your men within 2 squares of the point of impact of the shell is liable to be either killed or wounded. Prone men are less likely to be injured. By pressing 'p' during one of these attacks all your men will adopt a prone position. 5. Difficulty Levels There are 10 levels of difficulty. Levels 1-5 are 'short' versions of the game involving the second scenario only. Levels 6-10 are the full game versions. C. THE PLAY 1. Initial set up Eaach of your men must be placed towards the left hand side of the map using the cursor keys (5-8), with the restriction that only one man per square is allowed. 2. Playing the game PARAS is played in a series of game turns. Each turn has three separate phases: (i) Choose actions for each man and carry out movement. (ii) Carry out all attacks on the enemy. (iii) Enemy action and fire. (i) Player Action and Movement Each man must elect to perform one action per turn. These actions are selected by depressing the appropriate keys (0-7 in scenario 1; 0-9 in scenario 2) KEY 0 NOTHING - man does nothing. KEY 1 MOVE - maximum move allowance will be shown. Use cursor keys to show destination of move. Movement is not allowed off the map, into swamps, river or on any already occupied location. However movement through occupied squares is allowed. KEY 2 FIRE - once chosen this action is performed in the fire phase. Maximum weapon range is 7. KEY 3 MOVE AND FIRE - combines 1 & 2, although movement allowance is less and the probability of hitting a target is also reduced. A prone, wounded man may not move and fire. KEY 4 FALL PRONE - standing men may fall to the ground thus presenting a more difficult target, for the enemy. KEY 5 STAND - prone men may stand up. KEY 6 PREPARE GRENADE - before a hand grenade can be thrown, the normal weapon must first be shouldered and the grenade prepared for throwing. KEY 7 THROW GRENADE - only available to men with prepared grenades. Once chosen this action is carried out in the fire phase. After throwing the grenade use of the usual firearm is restored. Grenades have a range of 3 for standing men and 2 for prone ones. KEY 8 LAY EXPLOSIVES - only used at the bridge demolition stage and only if the man is actually standing on the leftmost section of the bridge. Once laid the explosives may be detonated by any man at that location. KEY 9 DETONATE - any man on the leftmost section of the bridge may detonate explosives, providing they have been laid previously. Detonation will destroy the bridge and your mission will be accomplished. ii Players All men who opted to fire, move + fire or throw grenade will be shown as highlighted characters. Use cursor keys to indicate attacking man and then the target location. The effects of fire will be resolved immediately. It is permissible to fire on any target within range (7 for weapons, 3 or 2 for grenades). If you still have men who have not yet fired and there are no more eligible targets you may cease firing by pressing key 'f'. Opportunity fire - At the start of the game a number of enemy are hidden in cover and their locations will be unknown to you. Their positions will only be revealed once they have fired. From then on, the man will be considered to have been spotted and his position will be constantly displayed until he is either killed or the game has ended. Even though they may be hidden, you know they are in one of the locations providing cover. If the occasion arises it is permissible to fire at any cover in the hope of hitting an as yet unseen enemy. This is most likely to occur if move + fire has been selected for your action. Scatter - Attacks with either grenade or bazooka are treated slightly differently from all other types of attack. Due to the nature of these weapons, they are subject to scatter- that is the missile may not necessarily land at its intended target as it is liable to roll or fall short before exploding, (because of this uncertainty these weapons are best used against closely packed enemy). The amount of scatter is a funcion of range - the longer the range, the more likelihood of scatter. Despite these drawbacks grenades and bazookas are particularly useful in the endgame, as they are capable of destroying the bridge at long range, unlike machine guns, submachine guns and rifles which are of no use for this purpose. iii Enemy Action and Fire During this phase the enemy will perform its actions and attacks on your men. D. WINNING THE GAME For levels 6-10, all the enemy must be killed in Part 1, and the bridge destroyed in Part 2 (not all the enemy need be killed in Part 2). For levels 1-5 the mission is simply to destroy the bridge. The portion of the bridge that must be destroyed is located at the leftmost section of the bridge, and may be accomplished by one of three methods:- i) explosives ii) grenade attacks iii) bazooka attacks The Action Sheet overleaf, displays all the relevant information, summarised into easy to use tables. E. LOADING Follow the instructions in the relevant user manual for your machine, always ensuring that the cassette recorder head is clean and the volume control and leads are correctly adjusted. F. COPYRIGHT Copyright of this cassette software and self explanatory notes resides in M.C.Lothlorien and it is illegal to copy the programme for disposal to a 3rd party. Similarly this cassette must not be hired to any 3rd pary without the express written consent of M.C.Lothlorien and no parts may be used in other programmes. M. C. LOTHLORIEN, 56A PARK LANE, POYNTON, CHESHIRE, SK12 1AE Tel: (0625) 87664 Copyright 1983 M.C.LOTHLORIEN MCL 108 (N) 9/83. Attack Factors range/weapon 1-2 3-4 5-7 Machine gun 90 60 30 Sub-machine gun 80 60 40 Rifle 70 60 50 Weapon Range Factor Bazooka up to 7 60 Grenade (standing) up to 3 60 Grenade (prone) up to 2 60 Defense factors Condition Factor Prone 0-5 Cover 0-7 Move + Fire* 0-8 * applies to attacker Defense effects are cumulative. ACTION SHEET KEY Machine gun (standing) Machine Gun prone Submachine gune (standing) Submachine gun prone Rifle (standing) Rifle prone Bazooka (standing) Bazooka prone Enemy (standing) Enemy prone Grenade Standing Grenade prone Tree River (2nd Part Only) Crater Building (1st Part Only) Marsh Bridge (2nd Part Only) Ridge (1st part) Mountain (2nd Part) Objectives Level 1-5: Destroy the bridge at 'square' H19 Level 6-10: Kill all the enemy in the 1st part, then proceed to Part 2 and destroy bridge at H19. Player Actions KEY 1 Move KEY 2 Fire KEY 3 Move + Fire KEY 4 Fall Prone KEY 5 Stand Up KEY 6 Prepare Grenade KEY 7 Throw Grenade KEY 8 Lay Explosive KEY 9 Detonate KEY 0 Nothing Movement allowances normal wounded move+fire wounded+move+fire Standing 4 3 3 2 Prone 2 1 1 -